I'm Leaving You, Simon - You Disgust Me: A Dictionary of Received Ideas
- ISBN-10
- 0304365750
- ISBN-13
- 9780304365753
- Category
- Clichés
- Pages
- 272
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2003
- Author
- William Donaldson
Description
Spoken and written language is littered with cliches, but there are some usages - smug statements of secondhand opinion, grating nuggets of folk wisdom, toe-curling verbal flourishes of the would-be authoritative - that go beyond the bounds of cliche to enter more desperate linguistic territory. We encounter these verbal horrors every day of our lives - in conversations overheard on tube, train and bus and at suburban dinner parties, in the fictional dialogues of TV drama - and even in the glib formulations of TV sports commentators. They are disparate in nature - but have one thing in common: they all represent desperate attempts on the part of the speaker to persuade the listener that certainty of language mirrors certainty of thought and intellect, to project a verbal front of decidedness, authority and knowledge.Willie Donaldson has turned his finely tuned satirical ear to these verbal inanities to create a unique, offbeat and entirely hilarious dictionary of cringemaking Islingtonian phrasemaking. But the twist is this: lurking behind the A-Z facade is a dramatis personae of gabbling middle-class archetypes, including the Simon of the title - a Canonbury-based wine importer - and his overwrought partner, Susan, a university academic. Their excruciating dialogues - conversational nightmares of pat phrases, glib opinion and conjugal bitchiness played out in the fictional context of a Barnsbury tapas bar named the Goya - are brilliantly captured by the author, and make this most individual of books a candidate for humour title of the year.
Get the book
Similar books
-
The Dictionary of Cliches
By James RogersThis book includes many of the most used English language expressions and explains their origins.
-
The Facts on File Dictionary of Clichés
By Christine AmmerPraise for the previous edition: "...an excellent resource for word lovers...inherently fascinating and an excellent place to look for old chestnuts galore..."—Library Journal "...[thorough].
-
The Facts on File Dictionary of Cliche ́s
By Christine AmmerThis updated and expanded edition explains the meanings and origins of almost 4,000 cliches and common expressions.
-
NTC's Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs
By McGraw-Hill/Contemporary, Ntc Publishing GroupWord-searchable dictionary with ca. 14,000 definitions of phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and other collocations in American English.
-
Death Sentences: How Clichés, Weasel Words, and Management-speak are Strangling Public Language
By Don WatsonCiting the disturbing overuse of buzzwords and clichés in the business world and political arena, an analysis of the consequences of ineffective terminology invites readers to resist rhetoric and desensitizing verbiage while returning to ...
-
I Didn't Know that: From "ants in the Pants" to "wet Behind the Ears"--the Unusual Origins of the Things We...
By Karlen EvinsA dictionary of everyday expressions shares the stories and origins behind such phrases as "ants in the pants" and "the whole nine yards."
-
Challenging Transformation's Clichés
By Antulio Joseph EchevarriaChallenging Transformation's Clichés
-
NTC's Dictionary of Proverbs and Clichés
By Richard A. SpearsAnne Bertram and edited By Richard A. Spears, contains approximately 950 old and new proverbs and cliches in use in the English language. Each of the expressions is defined in clear English and illustrated by two or more realistic examples.
-
Dictionary of Popular Phrases
By Nigel ReesIt explains what they mean, details their origins and gives illustrated examples. Nigel Rees is the author of the Graffiti books.
-
Every Cliche in the Book
By Peggy Rosenthal, George DardessPresents well-known cliches under the headings: sentiments, situations, sources, and sounds.